(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a shower bath tap valve assembly, and more particularly, to one that is firmly secured in balance, allows easier production and assembly, and can be adapted to a ceramic or a general cartridge.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
A shower bath tap in the present invention relates to a fixed tap in configuration as illustrated in FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings. Wherein, a valve assembly 1 is mounted to a disk shape base 2; a handle 3 provided on the base 2 connects a cartridge of the valve assembly to control water amount delivered; a cold water inlet 11, a hot water inlet 12, a water outlet 13, a drain 14, a trough 15 to accommodate the cartridge, and another trough 16 to accommodate a balance valve are provided on the valve body; the water outlet 13 is connected to a diverter (not illustrated); and the valve assembly 1 is then provided with the pipe work to connect through a shower head 4 and a bathtub tap 5.
The shower bath tap as described above is characterized by that both cold and hot water, before entering into a valve body 10, pass through a balance valve 20 and a cartridge 30 where both cold and hot water are properly mixed and delivered through the water outlet 13. Both the cartridge 30 and the balance valve 20 are members of the prior art in their configuration as illustrated in FIGS. 3, 5, and 6. The operation of the balance valve 20 is illustrated in FIG. 7, wherein, both cold and hot water from the water supply lines flow respectively through the cold and hot water tubes 11, 12 of the valve body 10 into the balance valve 20. As illustrated in FIG. 7A, a mobile part 22 of the balance valve 20 remains at the center for being subject to the equal pressure from the cold water and the hot water if the amount delivered of both cold and hot water are equal for both cold and hot water to flow to the balance valve 20 through a left water way 221 and a right water way 222. As illustrated in FIG. 7B, when only cold water is supplied t rough the cold water inlet 11, water current pressure is applied through the left water way 221 of the mobile part 22 on a separation plate 223 to move the mobile part 2 to its right, thus to block a left water pore 211 of a fixed part 21 to prevent the cold water from being delivered. On the contrary, if only hot water is supplied through the cold water inlet 12 as illustrated in FIG. 7C, water current pressure is applied, the mobile part 22 is moved to its left to block a right water pore 212 of a fixed part 21 to prevent the hot water from being delivered. Referring to FIG. 6, both cold and hot water flowing through the balance valve and entering into the cartridge 30 are mixed in the cartridge 30 and the mixing ratio is controlled by turning the handle 3 before allowing the mixed water to be delivered through the water outlet 13. This type of shower bath tap is known for its advantage of giving a very accurate regulation and control of the temperature of the water delivered through the balance valve and the cartridge. However, the mechanism of the cartridge may be of a general one or a precision ceramic one, arid the configuration of the balance valve varies depending on which one is used. Accordingly, various types of valve body must be designed to cope with the cartridge and the balance valve for assembly, resulting in higher production and assembly costs due to inconsistent structures among the members.